The New Covenant

Overwhelmed Written By: Londa Boone

Matthew 26:36-39 NIV

36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Has your soul been overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death?  NLT reads “crushed with grief to the point of death.” 

None of us have faced what our Lord Jesus faced that night in the garden; but I am sure we have all been overwhelmed with great sadness.  What do you pray when everything is falling apart?

Do you offer up suggestions of what you wish would happen?  Do you beg for relief?  Do you rail against heaven asking why?  Yes, all. 

But what would Jesus have us do when we are at our end?   Surrender and pray as He did:  ” Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

We are all resistant to giving up control.  We all secretly believe that we are the only ones that can do it the right way…  But then it all falls apart and we’re surprised as if things haven’t fallen apart before.  So what now?

God knows what to do.  He’s known since before the beginning of time.   Give it to Him and remember “We are weak but He is strong!”

Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength” Psalm 89.13 NLT

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46:1-3

God loves you way more than you love yourself so you can trust Him with your problems, your dreams, your people, your life.

I heard the other day that to change your mindset from it being all about you to it being all about Jesus – all you have to do is think about Him as if He’s in the room with you.  It will take a while for it to become habit but think about Him and His Word when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

I’ll finish with this.  During my cancer treatment, I felt the presence of God in a tangible way.  I think it was because everything I did was focused on Him.  The music I listened to, thinking of Him during the regular work day, the time I spent in His Word.  He carried me through that time and now that I am “healed” I am distracted by life again.  But hear me, this is because of making different choices.  Instead of listening to praise music in the car, I am in my own thoughts.  Instead of reading the Word at night, I am scrolling the internet.  When we remove our focus from Him, we lose the closeness of the relationship. 

Then when He comes to us, He finds us asleep.

Father God, forgive me when I prioritize things in this life over you. You are everything I need and I want to seek you with my whole heart.  I pray that you will not find me sleeping but focused totally on you.